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An Afghan talent show contestant's striking resemblance to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned him into an unlikely celebrity in the war-torn country -- and potentially given him the winning edge.

Abdul Salam Maftoon, a wedding singer from a village in the remote and impoverished northeastern province of Badakhshan, had never even heard of his more famous doppelgänger until a judge on the popular television music contest Afghan Star pointed out the uncanny likeness.

Slightly built with a long face and dark brown hair and eyes, Maftoon, 29, hopes the flattering comparison to the politician widely rated as one of the sexiest leaders in the world will bring him more votes on Afghanistan's version of American Idol.

Goddammit, countrymen, suck a little less about things like this, would you?

I'm sure a lot of it is coming from abroad, but hanging around Canadian parts of Twitter and Reddit is enough to leave me damned certain that a lot of it isn't.

I'm glad she escaped what would have been certain death, and I'm reasonably sure the vast majority of these keyboard warriors wouldn't dare act on their fantasies, but - for fuck's sakes, people. Argh. It depresses me how many people are comfortable turning into frothing, wannabe-murderous bigots the moment the word "refugee" is said anywhere near them.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

Oh snap!

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Goddammit, countrymen, suck a little less about things like this, would you?

I'm sure a lot of it is coming from abroad, but hanging around Canadian parts of Twitter and Reddit is enough to leave me damned certain that a lot of it isn't.

I'm glad she escaped what would have been certain death, and I'm reasonably sure the vast majority of these keyboard warriors wouldn't dare act on their fantasies, but - for fuck's sakes, people. Argh. It depresses me how many people are comfortable turning into frothing, wannabe-murderous bigots the moment the word "refugee" is said anywhere near them.

I don't see where the online threats originated inside of Canada. It just refers to threats with no real detail. I'm sorta curious how this one person wound up getting so much attention, I would have guessed she's not an isolated incident. I would have imagined people in her shoes show up somewhat regularly.

I guess with the former justice minister getting pushed into Veteran's affairs the current government has thrown up its hands and given up on reconciliation for now.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

I watched one fucking Joe Rogan video and now my youtube feed is all Jordan Peterson and some chubby southern dude telling me how the holocaust was all a long con by the jews so we would feel bad for them and let them take over the world by 2050 (no joke)

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

I watched one fucking Joe Rogan video and now my youtube feed is all Jordan Peterson and some chubby southern dude telling me how the holocaust was all a long con by the jews so we would feel bad for them and let them take over the world by 2050 (no joke)

You tube is going to fuck us all over for clicks.

Youtube is goddamn insidious with this shit and the nazis know how to use it. Videos about video games and The Last Jedi are basically gateways to get thinly disguised alt-right shit in front of vulnerable pre-teen and teen boys. Which then leads to actual full on nazi shit.

But yeah, they are all gonna fuck us for clicks. Facebook and the like basically exist to find a way to addict you to clicking on them even if it's actively harmful to people's self-esteem (which it's been shown to be). And then on top of that they spread horrible ideologies.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

I watched one fucking Joe Rogan video and now my youtube feed is all Jordan Peterson and some chubby southern dude telling me how the holocaust was all a long con by the jews so we would feel bad for them and let them take over the world by 2050 (no joke)

You tube is going to fuck us all over for clicks.

Youtube is goddamn insidious with this shit and the nazis know how to use it. Videos about video games and The Last Jedi are basically gateways to get thinly disguised alt-right shit in front of vulnerable pre-teen and teen boys. Which then leads to actual full on nazi shit.

But yeah, they are all gonna fuck us for clicks. Facebook and the like basically exist to find a way to addict you to clicking on them even if it's actively harmful to people's self-esteem (which it's been shown to be). And then on top of that they spread horrible ideologies.

My girlfriends 10 year old is into Fortnight (as is every child) and watches streamers on youtube/twitch and his mom was blissfully unaware (because said kid wears headphones) that many of the ones he was watching are virulently racist/misogynist. For her it was just people playing video games and she did not see the harm.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

I watched one fucking Joe Rogan video and now my youtube feed is all Jordan Peterson and some chubby southern dude telling me how the holocaust was all a long con by the jews so we would feel bad for them and let them take over the world by 2050 (no joke)

You tube is going to fuck us all over for clicks.

Youtube is goddamn insidious with this shit and the nazis know how to use it. Videos about video games and The Last Jedi are basically gateways to get thinly disguised alt-right shit in front of vulnerable pre-teen and teen boys. Which then leads to actual full on nazi shit.

But yeah, they are all gonna fuck us for clicks. Facebook and the like basically exist to find a way to addict you to clicking on them even if it's actively harmful to people's self-esteem (which it's been shown to be). And then on top of that they spread horrible ideologies.

My girlfriends 10 year old is into Fortnight (as is every child) and watches streamers on youtube/twitch and his mom was blissfully unaware (because said kid wears headphones) that many of the ones he was watching are virulently racist/misogynist. For her it was just people playing video games and she did not see the harm.

At this point children should not be let near Youtube, twitch or any of that shit.

Well, I hope Jagmeet sends her thank you flowers, what a fucking dumbass.

"Liberal candidate Karen Wang has quit the Burnaby South byelection race over comments she posted on social media about NDP leader and candidate Jagmeet Singh. In a WeChat post reported by StarMetro Vancouver, Wang wrote that as the only Chinese candidate, she could beat Jagmeet Singh, who she noted is of "Indian descent." Singh was born in Scarborough, Ont., to parents who immigrated to Canada from Punjab state in India. 'Recent online comments by Karen Wang are not aligned with the values of the Liberal Party of Canada,' said a statement from the party.
'The Liberal Party has a clear commitment to positive politics and support for Canadian diversity, and the same is always expected of our candidates.'"

I know it's not directly a Canadian Politics issue, but I've spent a solid half of my mental energy today telling people on facebook why, "No, the new Gillette commercial isn't an attack on men or demonizing them."I'm fucking exhausted, and I just don't know how you even handle some of these people because they're coming from positions so far detached from reality there's no baseline of where the problem even starts.

It's not the commercial itself that's important - it's that the idea of men being accountable for their actions readily brings out of the woodwork everyone who believes that Males Are The True Victims Of Modern Society.™

P&G are a shit company for sure and as advertising goes, it's astounding that the viewers don't get whiplash given that all of gilette's ads are "Shave with our stuff like David Beckham and you'll totally get all the pussy dude!".

I assume they were going for a Kapernick style thing and banking on women buying dudes their shaving products like the Old Spice ads did for a while.

The problem is, we've had "keyboard warriors" acting on their fantasies since École Polytechnique and things have ramped up in recent years since Trump started running. There are plenty who dare when we don't counter radicalization in an organized and compassionate manner. :'(

No one has been taking internet culture seriously until very recently but it's a potent force for radicalization. The fucking Youtube algorithm should be renamed Goebbels at this point.

I watched one fucking Joe Rogan video and now my youtube feed is all Jordan Peterson and some chubby southern dude telling me how the holocaust was all a long con by the jews so we would feel bad for them and let them take over the world by 2050 (no joke)

I know it's not directly a Canadian Politics issue, but I've spent a solid half of my mental energy today telling people on facebook why, "No, the new Gillette commercial isn't an attack on men or demonizing them."I'm fucking exhausted, and I just don't know how you even handle some of these people because they're coming from positions so far detached from reality there's no baseline of where the problem even starts.

God I wish I was a smarter person than I am.

Damn, I showed the ad to my alt-right brother, and even he liked it. One of the preciously few times we agreed on something.

I listened to two really interesting podcasts in the last couple days about social media's effects on polarization and radicalization, and how the incentives inherent in the business models essentially monetize confirmation bias and anger.

They're both episodes of Sam Harris's Waking Up podcast. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay - feel free to ignore this if you want, I'm not looking to have an argument about him. I do think both of these discussions are really good and worth checking out if you're interested in the topics:

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Renée DiResta about Russia’s “Internet Research Agency” and its efforts to amplify conspiracy thinking and partisan conflict in the United States.

Renée DiResta is the Director of Research at New Knowledge and Head of Policy at the nonprofit organization Data for Democracy where she investigates the spread of malign narratives across social networks. She regularly writes and speaks about the role that tech platforms and curatorial algorithms play in the proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theories. She is the author of The Hardware Startup: Building your Product, Business, and Brand.

Waking Up Podcast #140 - Burning Down the Fourth Estate (while the previous one is about the deliberate use of social media to propagandize, radicalize, and foment hatred and conflict, this one is more about the incentives in the media industry which cause these things to happen "naturally" - in the sense that those things drive clicks and engagement)

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Matt Taibbi about the state journalism and the polarization of our politics. They discuss the controversy over Steve Bannon at the New Yorker Festival, monetizing the Trump phenomenon, the Jamal Kashoggi murder, the Kavanaugh hearing, the Rolling Stone reporting on the UVA rape case, the viability of a political center, the 2020 Presidential election, the Russia investigation, our vanishing attention span, and other topics.

Matt Taibbi is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and winner of the 2008 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Great Derangement, Griftopia, and The Divide. He is currently working on serial book about the failings of the media, titled The Fairway: Thirty Years After Manufacturing Consent, How Mass Media Still Keeps Thought Inbounds.

+3

Caulk Bite 6One of the multitude of Dans infesting this placeRegistered Userregular

theres another settlement that will probably pass this one is for samsung/kenmore top loaded washers and deals with ones from the last 5 years? mostly getting more money out of the rebate if you recalled it/or fixed it

just a heads up for anyone here since these things are generally pretty pricey but very nice for quality of life so just check if ya qualify my parents did

.I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay - feel free to ignore this if you want, I'm not looking to have an argument about him.

That's an interesting way to state "I know some people don't like to give him any publicity because he's an open racist". I don't think we should be spreading any of his media. He hates Muslims. I don't care what else he says, he's openly racist. There are other people saying the same thing who aren't racist. We should be discussing them instead.

Usually when you make a point and suggestion like that, it's helpful to refer to any of the alternatives you're proposing ...

But it doesn't really matter here, because the point is that Sam Harris is a bigoted goose who hangs around with other bigoted geese, and as such we shouldn't give him our attention, even if he was the only alternative.

.I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay - feel free to ignore this if you want, I'm not looking to have an argument about him.

That's an interesting way to state "I know some people don't like to give him any publicity because he's an open racist". I don't think we should be spreading any of his media. He hates Muslims. I don't care what else he says, he's openly racist. There are other people saying the same thing who aren't racist. We should be discussing them instead.

No. It's a sincere attempt to engage with an interesting topic people were discussing in the thread.

Oh, people are talking about the role of social media algorithms in radicalizing people and the harm this is doing to our society? Wow, I just happened to listen to a great discussion about this very subject, with an expert in this field who has first-hand experience researching exactly how these systems have been used for nefarious purposes! I learned a lot from it, and I bet some people would find this really interesting!

Of course before posting, I had to consider that I know these forums and I know there would be a very high chance of the thread being derailed by an argument about him as a person and perhaps attacks on me for sharing anything he produces. I wanted to share the discussions anyway, because I think they're very relevant, really interesting, and I think people might get something out of them. I wanted to do this without the thread becoming a "Is Sam Harris a _____" thread, so I tried my best to ask nicely that we not do that.

Well, I completely disagree with that. I disagree with the characterizations and labels that are being thrown his way.

He is very critical of religion, and Islam in particular, but that does not make him a racist or mean that he "hates muslims" any more than being critical of Catholicism means that you hate Catholics. He also occasionally talks to people that you (and he!) may strongly disagree with. I personally don't ascribe to the idea that we must never interact with, listen to, or engage with people who have different views than we do, be it privately or publicly.

Anyway, none of these topics have anything to do with the podcast discussions I mentioned earlier - well actually "Burning Down the Fourth Estate" does touch briefly on the topic of "who should we interview". If you don't want to hear that, again please feel free to ignore it.

Well, I completely disagree with that. I disagree with the characterizations and labels that are being thrown his way.

He is very critical of religion, and Islam in particular, but that does not make him a racist or mean that he "hates muslims" any more than being critical of Catholicism means that you hate Catholics. He also occasionally talks to people that you (and he!) may strongly disagree with. I personally don't ascribe to the idea that we must never interact with, listen to, or engage with people who have different views than we do, be it privately or publicly.

Anyway, none of these topics have anything to do with the podcast discussions I mentioned earlier - well actually "Burning Down the Fourth Estate" does touch briefly on the topic of "who should we interview". If you don't want to hear that, again please feel free to ignore it.

Actually the bolded here is exactly the point of the discussion above. Because the whole point of the problem with social media is that it takes this kind of attitude and just says "Sure, say what you want". The point being, don't give these people a platform. It just spreads.

Just as an aside: if you find yourself thinking/saying to yourself “I can forgive a bit of open racism because I like how this guy talks”, that’s probably something to think about. Like, if you know and agree that the guy’s views are bad, why are you still giving him earspace?

He also occasionally talks to people that you (and he!) may strongly disagree with. I personally don't ascribe to the idea that we must never interact with, listen to, or engage with people who have different views than we do, be it privately or publicly.

This here is weasel wording. People aren't saying "don't interact with Charles Murray (or Sam Harris for that matter) because he says something I don't agree with."

People are saying "don't interact with them because they're bigots." You're treating opposition to hate as a matter of difference of opinion - that's a bad faith argument that covers up the point of disagreement.

A big reason why we’re in the political mess we’re in, is too many people were coached into thinking “all viewpoints are valid, people should just agree to disagree”, without making room for the very harmful viewpoints [“maybe racism is... good?”, “men are just inherently better”, “trans folk are bad”, “(((globalism)))”, etc.] to be immediately ousted and shouted down.